Stop Needling Me (Sewing in general)

Member Name: Emmald

Product:	Sewing in general
Date:	20/03/09 (112 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It can be an inexpensive hobby.

Disadvantages: None

Sewing seems to be a dying art that is reserved for dear old fogies like me!
Over the past few decades I admit to having worn out many a crewel needle and hopefully intend to keep on going for a good few years yet.
Sewing can be addictive, interesting, time consuming, fascinating, challenging and absorbing.
Just take a moment to think about some of the amazing needlework that has been produced through the ages.
Many years ago huge tapestries were worked, I would suppose that the most famous of these has to be the Bayeux Tapestry. The Flemish worked some incredibly elaborate tapestries and wall hangings depicting lifelike scenes.
the 19th century saw the introduction of the Berlin woolwork, canvasses were painted and then embroidered with soft wool.
Women of the Victorian era were generally very adept at needlework creating intricate family samplers and beautiful beaded pincushions.
Being very keen on patchwork myself I often have a look at the patchwork quilts that are on the auction sites. If you go the the antique textile section on EBay you will see some excellent examples of early patchwork quilts.
To a certain extent patchwork is still alive and kicking, our local library stocks many books with patchwork patterns and over the years I have bought a few intriguing books from Amazon, which have cost little more than the postage.
All in all the American women were deemed the patchwork masters, if you ever get a chance just `Google` American patchwork and take a look at the craftmanship that went into each quilt.
Although we can take a look at some of the needlework through the ages we can only touch on the subject without writing an epic.

How many of you remember the family button tin?
Every garment that was destined for the bin was stripped of any `useful` buttons, which were then all stored in an old biscuit tin to reuse. That also applied to zippers, hooks and eyes, press studs. Now we all tend to hurl the whole lot into the bin and think nothing of it!
My Grandmother turned shirt collars and darned woollen socks, her Singer sewing machine was often heard chugging away on a cheap and cheerful project.

But today if I want to buy any embroidery or crewel wool I have to either go online and order it or take a trip to Bakewell to the nearest stockist, which is a good half an hour by car.
The shop that I visit is just like Aladdin`s cave, it is packed from floor to ceiling with tapestry canvasses, sampler kits and all the paraphernalia that goes with it.
If you were hoping to take up tapestry as a hobby then the price of some of the canvasses would quickly frighten you off.
The Elizabeth Bradley and Beth Russell designer canvasses can run into the hundreds of pounds.
Although they are beautiful I much prefer to buy my wool and thread and just create my own design. After all, if I create it myself it is unique!

Just going back to patchwork for a second..Don`t be put off or intimidated by professional patchworkers. I make my own templates using the cardboard form a cereal box, I can always manage to find scraps of pretty fabric from charity shops ( strangely enough they aren`t expensive either ).
Rather than work to a conventional pattern just randomly patch, it was good enough for the Victorians and it is good enough for me.
Again if you take it back to brass tacks it can be an inexpensive hobby, if you buy cotton fabric from a patchwork specialist and use proper templates then the project becomes expensive.

In short I feel that you can enjoy needlework without it costing a small fortune, if you have developed needlework skills and you pass them onto your daughters then the likelyhood is that they will follow in your footsteps.
It is enjoyable and time consuming but it is well worth the end result.

Summary: A hobby that is absorbing and fascinating